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Several years ago, I had an interesting conversation with a software project
manager about arrogance. She no longer "hired" technical writers because of
their arrogance. That was her word. I asked her to expand on her statements,
especially why she no longer hired technical writers. I was interested since
I was a technical writer.
>From her perspective, "all" technical writers (at least all that she had
worked with) possessive of their deliverables and unwilling to accept
suggestions. They would nick-pick about obscusre points in grammar or
punctuation. The TWers missed the point of delivering on time, on budget,
while they were seeking "perfection." She called it arrogance.
When pressed, she admitted she had only worked with 5-10 writers. I
suggested that those traits she cited could come under the label
occupational hazards. It was an attempt to get her to look at the problem
from another viewpoint. It didn't work. As far as I know she still refuses
to hire tech writers. I have not seen any documentation produced by her team
so I can't speak to its quality.
It's a tragedy for all of us that she ran into those "arrogant" TWers. One
more possible job down the tube. It benefited me because it reminded me to
always remember our job is to communicate. Not only in the documentation but
with our co-workers. Sometimes we need to see ourselves the way others see
us, not just the way we think we are.
Diane
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